Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Taniela Tupou lights fuse on 2nd Test with remarks about Ellis Genge

By PA
Taniela Tupou of the Wallabies looks on during The Rugby Championship match between the Australian Wallabies and Argentina Pumas at QCB Stadium on September 25, 2021 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Taniela Tupou has lit the fuse for a thunderous collision with Ellis Genge when Australia face England in Saturday’s second Test by revealing they will be united by a mutual desire to “smash” their rival.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dubbed the ‘Tongan Thor’, the bulldozing 21 stones 4lbs Tupou has been restored to the Wallabies’ front row after missing the 30-28 victory in the series opener because of a calf injury.

It sets up an explosive head to head with Genge, the combative England prop who will set the emotional intensity for Eddie Jones’s tourists at Suncorp Stadium.

Video Spacer

Bryan Habana, Jonny Hill’s hair pulling and South Africa’s revenge | RugbyPass Offload | Ep 41

Video Spacer

Bryan Habana, Jonny Hill’s hair pulling and South Africa’s revenge | RugbyPass Offload | Ep 41

“It’s not personal, but it is personal. I will do what is best for the team but when you get out there you want to be better than your opposition,” Tupou said.

“Ellis Genge is going to come out there and try to give it to me and smash me. I will do exactly the same thing. I want to give it to him. We will see what happens out there.

Related

“I have heard a lot of talk about him. I saw him absolutely kill it in the English comp with his team and he has captained his side.

“As a loosehead, he can run the ball, he can tackle and he can scrum. This week if he is starting, it will be the first time I have played him. It will be a big challenge but I need to focus on myself and what I can do.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Tupou’s bulldozing carrying has been a feature of Wallabies highlights reels, but coach Dave Rennie insists any tackle-busting runs are considered as a welcome addition to his core responsibility.

“Taniela can certainly carry. He’s got good footwork and he’s amazingly explosive for a big man. He can hike,” Rennie said.

“The scrum is the big thing. He hasn’t played a lot of rugby lately. We want really good set piece from him initially and anything else will be a bonus. If he can give us some go forward and quicker ball, that will help.”

Tupou is one of five changes made by Australia for the second Test, all of them enforced by injury or suspension.

ADVERTISEMENT

Second row Matt Philip replaces Darcy Swain, who has been banned for two weeks after head butting Jonny Hill at Optus Stadium.

Centre Hunter Paisami, wing Tom Wright and full-back Jordan Petaia are also drafted into the starting XV with Australia wearing their First Nations jersey for the first time this year.

Rennie has braced his Wallabies for niggle from England after believing they deliberately targeted Swain in the first Test, primarily through Hill who shoved his lock rival in the face early in the match.

“The officials will be pretty sharp around it. It was surprising that the first offence, the push in the face that was pretty aggressive, wasn’t seen by any of the officials,” Rennie said.

“If it had been I think it would have been dealt with and Darcy wouldn’t have been facing the judiciary. Everyone’s awareness around that is a little sharper now.”

Australia team to face England at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on Saturday July 9, KO 10:55 BST:

J Petaia, T Wright, H Paisami, S Kerevi, M Koroibete, N Lolesio, N White, A Bell, D Porecki, T Tupou, M Philip, C Neville, R Leota, M Hooper (capt), R Valetini.

Replacements: F Fainga’a, S Sio, J Slipper, N Frost, P Samu, J Gordon, J O’Connor, I Perese.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tackling reasons for drop-out in sport | Zainab Alema | Rugby Rising Locker Room

Krakow | Leg 3 | Day 2 | HSBC Challenger Series | Full Day Replay

Kubota Spears vs Tokyo Sungoliath | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Jet Lag: The biggest challenge facing international sports? | The Report

Boks Office | Episode 39 | The Investec Champions Cup is back

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry? | New Zealand & Australia | Sevens Wonders | Episode 5

Kobelco Kobe Steelers vs Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

The Rise of Kenya | The Report

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
John 51 minutes ago
Super Rugby draw heavily favours NZ sides but they can't win in Australia

Cheers for the comment HHT!


I think your point on unfair draw and mine, which in essence is about an unfair draw actually aid each other for a rather strong argument that the draw needs to be looked at.


I think this is a case of two things can be true at once.


I have chosen in around 1000 words to explore this particular issue with the draw I have identified.


Your point, with having the NZ teams playing each other twice on some occassions while others in Aus not is also not fair.


But with the way the table looks currently, would the NZ sides all be in the top six if the draw had been done more in line with my and your point?


For instance, 4 of the 6 Aus wins against NZ sides have come against the Highlanders, 3 in Aus, 1 in NZ.


The Landers have beaten the Blues and lost to the Canes by 2 points, those are their only two NZ games to date and they play the Chiefs this weekend. Their 3 games against the Aussie sides in Australia compared to the Blues 1 is a massive disadvantage because travel takes it’s toll.


Then looking at your example the Blues, they have the toughest season of any side by far but I would also argue that the limited travel is a massive help in preparation, recovery etc. But their draw must be looked at, any side would suffer with a draw like that.


Although I am not suggesting the Aus sides are better than the NZ sides overall, the current ledger and table set up suggests the rift is not as big currently as the underlying assertion to your argument suggests.


More will absolutley be revealed over the coming rounds as the strength of the two franchises.

7 Go to comments
J
JW 1 hour ago
'We offered him a three-year deal': Hurricanes priced out of U20 star

I see I’m not getting my point across.

If the plan from his family for him was to make more cash

Lets play along with you presumption these “shackles” existed then. Logically, as I’ve already tried to show, that makes no sense, but I’ll try to use it to show what I mean by saying/answering.. they would have got more cash by playing hard-to-get with the French clubs by returning to New Zealand and signing with the Hurricanes. Now you should see returning to NZ is not relevant to the discussion, it is also a euphemism, as he would already be (have returned) when he first decided to stay. His family would know that signing a development contract for the Hurricanes in no way legally affects his ability to take an offer in France.


Now, that wasn’t what I was saying happened, but if you can now follow that thread of logic, I’m saying its because this situation happened, signing for Toulon just months later, that you are wrong to think “returning to New Zealand” must mean he wasn’t “shackled”.


Actually, I’m not saying that he was “shackled”, the article is saying that. That is how you would read the words “His parents see that as the route they want their son to take, and we support that.” and “but it’s probably a slightly different package to what Toulon can offer” here, and I’m pretty sure in most English speaking places GD.


Of course without those statements I agree that it is very possible he’s grown, changed his mind from wanting to develop here with players and coaches he’s comfortable/friends with, to where he wants to take on the challenge of a rich and prestigious club like Toulon. A few months is perhaps enough time to people he trusts to open him up to that sort of environment even, but that’s simply not the message we go, is it? I also think you maybe have an over defense stance about thinking intrinsically or literally about money meaning he was thrown lots of dollars? It might be far from the case, but the monetary value of been given a home and jobs for the family, all the bells and whistles a wealthy club can provide etc is far removed from the mentality he’d currently be in of “cleaning the sheds” after a game. Even without real money just the life style they got given when there last would no doubt be enough to change the mind of some grown up living day to day off your own sustenance/plantation or like that they would have had.

11 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Ex-All Black Richie Mo’unga teases return to ‘Test match setting’ in 2025

They didn’t really let him go though did they. He was gone, already signed to leave some 18 months earlier. Not much they could do.


Definitely a shame though, hence why I criticize the coaching for not unlocking that composure earlier. We would have seen he was definitely the player we need to take us through that WC, and the next, before the contract talks started. After, was too late. Conversely, if he had of continued to play the way he had been when he signed to go to Japan, I have no doubt Damien McKenzie would have been the player to lead us in 23’, and then we very likely would have won that Final. I’m not so sure Dmac would hve been good enough to get us past Ireland, Richie definitely deserves a lot of credit for simply getting us to the Final.


But that was all my message to HHT was. That class, or talent in this case, is permeant, and games like Ireland showed he did definitely had that. Obviously Richie’s got a large responsibility in realizing it sooner too, but in terms of not displaying it when it counts in 2019 or 2023, I reckon that’s on the coachs more than a lack of talent on his part, and it’s the same shame when it comes to your sentiment. If he was at the point were he could have saved out bacon against Ireland in 2022, it might not have been too late for NZR to have come in with a big contract offer. The bigger problem now is that Razor is only exasperating that problem with this new group. We now clearly know he was a big factor in Richie taking so long, because he’s replicating the same problems with the current batch. Thankfully NZR had no other option but to offer a big contract to secure Dmac this time though, regardless of how he must have felt after being treated like that.

8 Go to comments
L
Louise Hayward 2 hours ago
Zainab Alema breaking new ground: ‘I had to invest in sport hijabs to play comfortably’

HOW I WAS ABLE TO GET BACK MY STOLEN BITCOIN THROUGH (FOLKWIN EXPERT RECOVERY.


I would never have dreamed that a second could change everything. One minute, I am sitting in the café working on a project. The next minute, my laptop is gone-took in two seconds. That was not merely a device being stolen. On that laptop, my entire future financial life-some $630,000-worth of Bitcoins-was located. I refused to believe that just the first moment it had happened, and I began a crazy search all over the café, as if I'd misplaced it. But deep down, I knew it: It was gone. The realization hit like a punch to the gut. Not only had I lost my most important work tool, but I had also lost years of careful savings.

Then, panic hit. I hadn't ever backed up my wallet. The thought of losing it all made me feel physically sick. My mind raced through all the things I could have done differently, all the ways I could have prevented this. But regret wouldn't bring my Bitcoin back.

Desperate, I began searching for solutions. That was when another designer spoke about Folkwin expert Recovery. The first thought that came into my mind was, could anyone actually recover stolen cryptocurrency? But I reached out because I had no other options.

From the very first conversation, I knew I was in the right hands. Their team wasn't just professional; it was really very understanding. They never made me feel silly because I didn't have a backup. They only reassured me, explaining each step of the recovery process to me. They had dealt with cases like mine before and were determined to help.

The waiting period was excruciating. There were days when I lost hope, convinced my funds were gone forever. But the Folkwin expert Recovery team kept me updated, using advanced blockchain tracking and forensic tools to trace my stolen assets.

Then, after weeks of work, I got the call—they had recovered my Bitcoin. The relief was indescribable. It felt like getting my life back.

They not only helped me recover my money but also, beyond that, they improved my security: through their app providing real-time security alerts, encrypted backups, anti-theft, of which I had no idea.

This experience taught me a hard lesson about digital security, but it also showed me that even the worst situations can be turned around with the right experts. I owe them everything at Folkwin expert Recovery, and if you ever find yourself in the same nightmare, don't hesitate to reach out to Folkwinexpertrecovery (@) tech-center (.) com , Whats-App: +1 (740)-705-0711 for assistance.

Regards,

Mis Louise Hayward.

0 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Rumour mill in overdrive as ex-All Black linked with Leicester Rumour mill in overdrive as ex-All Black linked with Leicester
Search